RTPI Staff Teaches Litchfield High School Students in the Costa Rican Rainforest
Between February 24 and March 7 RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser and Director Twan Leenders traveled to the Costa Rican rainforest again to teach Connecticut high school students about the importance of rainforest conservation as part of the Forman School Rainforest Project. This unique hands-on biology course based out of the Forman School in Litchfield, but also catering to high school seniors and juniors of local public high schools, is currently in its 22nd year. Every year a group of 12-14 students travels to the remote (and difficult to reach) rainforest preserve Rara Avis, where they work...
Read MoreRara Avis Rainforest Preserve
If you’re as tired of the cold as we are, here is something to look forward to that won’t take until spring: RTPI President & Executive Director Twan Leenders and Affiliate Sean Graesser are in the Rara Avis Rainforest Preserve in Costa Rica through the end of next week with students from the Forman School and from Wamogo Regional High School in Litchfield, CT. They’ll be hiking the trails (yes, this is actually a picture of a trail) in the extremely lush Costa Rican rainforest to study neotropical birds, amphibians, reptiles and other tropical critters. Expect updates...
Read MoreRed-eyed Tree Frogs
When I’m not engrossed in avian research my focus gets drawn to reptiles and amphibians. While visiting the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve we found this nice population of Pacific phased Red-eyed Tree Frogs (Agalychnis callidryas). Around the main pool we found a few masses of eggs that were in various stages of development. The next find was particularly exciting for me – individuals in amplexus. That means during the courtship of this species the female carries the male on her back before copulation. We proceeded to find a few other individuals in the immediate vicinity....
Read MoreBlue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale) by Twan Leenders
Even though I’ve seen many different versions of this scene before, it never ceases to amaze me: a first gulp of air as a metamorph amphibian (a larval Blue-spotted Salamander, Ambystoma laterale, in this case) prepares to leave the familiarity of its aquatic habitat to try its luck on land. This image only captured a small, split-second occurrence, but it also recorded a phenomenon that is so biologically fundamental (and so utterly amazing when you think about the mechanics of the whole process!) that I was very excited to document this so many can see and ponder it.
Read MoreBats and White-nose Syndrome
On the day after Halloween as we move closer towards winter I thought it would be appropriate to talk about one of the holiday’s most emblematic creatures – the bat. Some are facing a possible extinction level event due to White-nose Syndrome which is killing several hibernating species in the northeast U.S. and spreading across the country rapidly. Most people know that bats hibernate in caves (thanks Batman), and each hibernaculum can have tens of thousands of bats or more. Even with these high numbers there are mortality rates nearing 100% in some locations! This USFWS graphic...
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